The Unconvinced
by DismemberedHat
Summary: As the Golden Trio returns home for the summer, Hermione's parents worry about her. So much that they are forced to do something that may ruin the Golden Trio forever. Warning: AU. This story focuses on Schizophrenia, depression, and the acts of true friendship. I also don't ship Romione. Rated T to be safe. I do not own HP or any characters.
1. Home

The Hogwarts Express made its way into the station that was bustling with eager parents, small children, and the overall excitement of the start of summer. Some students departed from the train and scattered towards their waiting families, while others stopped to say goodbye to magical friends and classmates. Promises to visit each other and to stay in contact were whispered amongst these students as the station cleared. All but three students and a large red headed family vacated the room.

"Do promise to owl me at least once a week, even though I know you won't. Just like you don't every year. It's not fair that you two will be together all summer without me. I have to know that I won't be bailing you out of jail or something!"

"You're such a worry-wart, Hermione! We won't do anything _too_ bad." The voice of a certain dark haired boy reassured the girl, hugging her. "See you next year, Hermione." With a wave of hands, the station was deserted, leaving only a train to remember what once was.

Hermione, the worrying girl, promptly left the station to be welcomed home by her boyfriend, Alex. He took her bags after giving her a quick peck on the lips and a warm welcome home. "How have you been, love?" He asked her. He always seemed to be precautious of her as if she was his child.

"I have never been better! I learned so many new things in my po- chemistry class!" Alex looked at her as if she had two heads. Luckily Hermione was able to catch her slip up before she revealed anything. Before Alex could question her about it, she was already in the car and ready to leave.

"So who did you say your friends were? You don't talk much about them." He asked, once the engine started.

"Oh they don't live around here. This is not a school for just anyone."

"I need names, 'Mione."

"Harry and Ron. Happy?" She glared. If there is one thing to know about Hermione, it's that she doesn't like to be pestered. Alex caught on and stopped asking her questions as she looked outside the car window.

Getting home was easy, but unpacking everything and doing what she needed to do was not. Alex helped her bring the trunk inside while Hermione grabbed her other bags. "Alright! Now I just need to do some laundry so shoo!" Hermione motioned with her hands to her boyfriend as he left the house laughing. Alex knew Hermione always got like this when she came home. First she would unpack and do her laundry, then she would do her homework, and finally, she would rest. A small piece of wood caught his attention as he entered the car. It had a delicate carving on the wider end that resembled vines. The wood got smaller and smaller as Alex pinched the wood. Hermione must have left it in his car. Knowing how busy she must be, he decided to keep the wand until he was reunited with his girlfriend, when she was in a better mood. This stick only made him more curious about what his girlfriend was doing at her school.

That's when his cell phone rang. "Hello? Jess?" He only heard the sound of someone really upset, causing him to rush over to her house. "Jess? Open up!" He banged on her door only for it to be opened by Hermione's mother.

"Alex, please come in. We need to have a talk. It's about Hermione." She ushered him in and closed the door quickly in case Hermione for some reason decided to show up. Inside, Alex saw Mr. Granger consoling Jessica, Hermione's best friend, on the couch.

"What's going on? Is she okay?" Alex began to panic. Surely nothing happened between the time he left Hermione and got in the car and she seemed okay to him before he left.

"She's not okay. She hasn't been okay for a while. We hoped that this may just have been some kind of phase for her and that she'll come to her senses. But that doesn't seem like the case. Instead of getting better, she got worse. Her stories of school get more intense as she tells them." Mrs. Granger explained. This caused Alex to panic more. "She is seeing and doing things that are not really there. I'm sure she has told you of her friends Harry and Ron."

"Of course. We were just talking about them in the car. Although, she wouldn't tell me about them." Alex replied without hesitation, just wanting Mrs. Granger to get to the chase.

"They don't exist. I have been searching for years for anyone under the names 'Harry Potter' and 'Ron Weasley' but there is no one that I could find. I even hired a private investigator to search but nothing came up. And that's not the worst of it. She says that she owls these friends. Not once has any of her friends 'owled' her back. She constantly talks about needing things for her 'herbology', 'potions', and 'transfiguration' classes. She even has a 'wand'!"

Alex held up the stick that he has kept in his hand since he found it. "This?"

"Yes dear! That's her 'wand'! We think she has gone off the deep end and needs special attention. She needs someone to help her get the idea that magic is not real into her head."

"So what are you saying, Mrs. G?" Alex did not like where this was going at all.

"Hermione will not be attending school next year as we will be enlisting her in St. Hubb's Mental Institution."


	2. Back to Hogwarts

_Sorry I haven't updated in a bit! I've been meaning to get this chapter up but I've been working on school and whatnot. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything featured in this story that affiliates with the Harry Potter universe._

Harry sat in the booth of the train once again on his way to Hogwarts. Ron, his best friend, sat across from him, indulging himself in the candy he received from the trolley that passed by. Still, his mind wandered to the whereabouts of their dear companion, Hermione. Curiosity got the better of him and he left to find the booth of none other than Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. He hoped that they would have an idea to where Hermione could be hiding.

"I haven't seen her," the Ravenclaw started, "I don't think she even got on the train! She didn't owl me all summer either. I hope she's all right." Worry overwhelmed the young boy as he continued his search for the last part of The Golden Trio. Unfortunately, she was not in any of the apartments. No one had even seen her get on the train.

He reached the final apartment; the same one he had purposely avoided due to a particular jerk sitting inside. He eventually sucked it up, remembering his mission: find Hermione. Opening the door, he was met with snobbish laughter quieting down and way too much perfume. "Potter."

"Malfoy." He retorted. These were the usual greetings other than 'slob,' 'half-wit,' 'jerk,' and 'snob.'

"What are you looking for? Because I can assure you, _I_ don't have it." The blonde stuck up his nose as if he had been wrongfully accused of stealing something.

"Not what. _Who_. I can't find Hermione."

"And you expect me to care?"

"No, I was just wondering if you had seen her at the station or on the train at all. I asked everyone else and nobody has seen her."

"The Mudblood is probably already at the school. You know how she is. She's probably already got her nose in a book that she has read before." Harry scoffed at the insult to his friend. It's been almost six years since they met and Malfoy still insists on calling his friend this insulting term. However obnoxious Malfoy may be, he may also be right. She probably _was_ already at the school or took a different mode of transportation like he and Ron did back in their second year.

Hours later and the Great Hall was Hermione-free. The seat that the curly brunette used to sit in was empty and people were starting to notice. The library was closed for the first day back so that room could be marked off the list of places that she could possibly be. Harry took it upon himself to go visit Hagrid with Ron to see if he had any ideas.

"I'm just as ignorant about it as you are." The giant man said.

"I hope she's all right. She didn't write back to any of my letters over the summer and I didn't see her getting her school supplies." Ron added.

"I'm going to go ask Professor Dumbledore if he knows. Maybe Hermione is on holiday and would have missed the first day of school. She would have probably informed him of her absence and to send any make up work she would miss." Harry spoke with determination in his voice. He scurried to the Headmaster's office and stopped to listen to a conversation between the Headmaster and what sounded like Professor Snape.

"Mr. Malfoy has informed me that Mrs. Granger was not present at the Great Hall. He believes she may not have even gotten on the train as she was not seen at King's Cross." Professor Snape informed his superior.

"That_ is_ rather interesting. I didn't receive any notifications that Mrs. Granger would be missing today and everyone who wanted to, had gotten through at King's Cross." Harry remembered the man near the platform. Professor Dumbledore hired a man to make sure there would be no students to miss the train in regard to the mishap from a few years ago involving Ron and himself. "It is rather peculiar that someone so keen about learning would miss class. I will send a letter to her home."

With that, Harry had all of the information he needed. He knew that Hermione would never miss school, even if she was dead. There was something terribly wrong.


	3. New Home

Once again, sorry for not updating sooner. I've had a lot on my plate. Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or ideas associated with the Harry Potter universe.

The car ride felt like an eternity for Hermione. She could have sworn the zoo was a lot closer than this. She did not feel the need to argue about petty things since, after all, she had not been to the zoo in a long time. Nonetheless, something felt a little off to Hermione about the car ride. Her parents, her best friend, and her boyfriend all refused to look at her, let alone speak to her. Something was wrong.

Gazing out the car window, she could not recognize what she saw. Unfamiliar landmarks surrounded them. It was not until Hermione saw a sign for a mental asylum that she became uneased. She did not think her parents were tricking her. She trusted them too much. Her best friend and her boyfriend only wanted what was best for her. Did they want to put her into a mental institution? Hermione hoped with all of her heart that they were just passing the building to get to the zoo. Boy was she wrong.

Hermione's father pulled up to the asylum. Two doctors in pure white coats were waiting, ready to restrain if necessary. Had they been expecting them? Suddenly, Hermione was pulled from the car and restrained to a wheelchair. She did not have the time to fight her friends and relatives before she was in the large building. Her mother, too devastated to even look her in the face, did not exit the car.

"Checking in?" A young nurse said.

"Why yes. I am checking in my daughter. Last name is Granger." Her father was the one to speak for the group. Hermione could not believe what was happening. How could they do this to her? But the more important question is not _how_, but _why_. Why would they do this to her? She had done nothing wrong.

"It's okay, Hermione." Her boyfriend tried to comfort her.

"You'll get better with these people." Her friend also tried to comfort her.

"I don't need to get better! Just let me go and we can talk about this!" Hermione pleaded, but to no avail. "You're making a mistake!" The doctors began to push her down the hallway to a room for her. It was a white single person room with a poster with a cat that hanged from a tree. It had the humorous caption of "Hang in There!" Hermione despised the poster.

"Okay, Ms. Granger. Your friends and family have sent you here to try to help you. They say you talk nonsense about 'magic' and a 'wizarding world.' They also say that you have made up some friends named 'Harry and Ron.' They have also found this," the doctor held up her wand, "with your things."

"My wand." Hermione mumbled to herself. She had been looking for that everywhere but she assumed it was with one of the bags she had yet to unpack.

"Yes, your 'wand.' Your family is concerned for you and think that you may be going overboard with this imaginat-"

"But it's not my imagination! Harry and Ron are my real friends! That is my real wand! I go to a magic school in the wizarding world!" Hermione shouted, enraged that her family could accuse her of being insane over this. She was sure her parents had met Harry and Ron before.

"Right. Well, you will not be saying that once you exit these doors." With that, Hermione was left alone to ponder the events that had just occurred. She tried to open the door only to find it locked. How was she ever going to get out of this retched place?


End file.
